The coming year will test whether the interests of tourism and of the arts can sit comfortably together. The Millennium Festivals programme, which piggybacks on some of the most established and successful arts festivals around the country, was announced last night by the Minister for Tourism, Trade and Recreation, James McDaid, whose department is a co-funder, with the National Millennium Committee, of Millennium Festivals Ltd. The eight flagship festivals are: Galway Arts Festival; Wexford Festival Opera; Kilkenny Arts Festival; the Cork Jazz Festival; Belfast Festival at Queens, Fleadh Cheoil in Enniscorthy; the Rose Of Tralee; and St Patrick's Festival, Dublin, which will officially open Ireland's millennium celebrations on March 13th. These will be joined by a slew of smaller events to create a year-long celebration. "Each of the festivals will be presenting something new and different," says Doireann Ni Bhriain, general manager of Millennium Festivals Ltd. Let's hope the extra funds - £3.5 million - won't all be spent on bunting.